Six of the stores or restaurants are new to Virginia. Four are new to Hampton Roads, and 11 are new to the Peninsula. Many of them plan to open in time for the March 11 grand opening.
"This community has a lot of potential," Hampton City Manager Mary Bunting said, "and this will enable us to position ourselves as a destination retail center."
Peninsula Town Center replaced the former Coliseum Mall, which struggled with high vacancy and low shopper turnout in recent years. So the owner demolished it in 2007 and replaced it with a "town center" mimicking downtowns of old. The development mixes retail, office and residential components to create a destination where people can live, work and socialize.
Several stores and restaurants are already open in the under-construction development, which is designed to offer something for everyone, from free Saturdays in the Square events for families to higher-end stores, such as Shoe Woo, a new store concept that's found only in the New York City area, said Karen Smith, the project's marketing director.
One of the new restaurants will be Bensi Ristorante Italiano, which has approximately 20 locations along the East Coast. This will be its first Virginia location.
It will overlook the parklike Town Square area, along with The Wine Loft, a wine bar and cafe that's new to the Hampton Roads area.
Other retailers new to Hampton Roads include dELIA*s, specializing in junior women's apparel, and Q Barbeque, based in Richmond.
Stores new to the Peninsula include Bakers, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Cache, Charming Charlie, Emerson's Cigars, H&M, Hollister, JoJack's Espresso Cafe and The Limited.
Abuelo's Mexican Food Embassy, which has a location in Chesapeake, will locate in a building across from the building housing Chipotle and bd's Mongolian Grill. Between the two buildings will be a courtyard of outdoor restaurant seating, strung with lights.
It's designed to be the center of night life in the development, said Raymond Tripp, the development's general manager.
Restaurant leasing was the strongest, Smith said.
"We needed restaurants in Hampton," she said. "We really did. There was such a lack."
Some of the stores are locally owned. Some of them are the only stores their national chains will open in 2010, Smith said.
Part of Tuesday's announcement included a countdown to March 11. City and project officials started a giant clock counting down to the retail grand opening. Two other giant countdown clocks were also set up on the grounds of the development.
The project started before the financial and economic meltdown, so the project's financing was in place before the credit freeze-up. But the recession slowed leasing here and across the U.S.
"I know it took a long time, but I think it will be well worth the wait," said Yaromir Steiner, chief executive of Steiner+Associates, the project developer.
With the 43 stores announced Tuesday, the retail portion of the development will be 65 percent to 70 percent leased.
As for residential, only three of the 158 apartments are left at the upscale Chapman apartments. There's room for more residential, but nothing's planned yet, Tripp said.
About half the project's 120,000 square feet of office space is leased or committed, Steiner said.
"Office leasing is typically the last piece of the puzzle," Smith said.
The 0.5 percent charge
--All the stores that will open in Peninsula Town Center in Hampton will include an extra 0.5 percent charge on purchases.
--Customers started seeing the charge on their receipts Jan. 1.
--The charge was approved by the City Council in 2006 to help pay for the development.
Credit: Daily Press, Newport News, Va.
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